Taiwan-based Mio Technology has rested its hopes for brand recognition on its DigiWalker range
Electronics firms often talk about breaking away from the low-margin world of original design manufacturing into more lucrative own-branded products, but few ever make it beyond a few hastily produced devices and some splashy short-term marketing.
One company looking to break that trend is Mio Technology - the Taiwan-based subsidiary of manufacturing and logistics giant Mitac International.
Mitac is banking on Mio's range of Mio DigiWalker GPS-enabled devices to give it the brand name it lacks having built a US$15 billion business in the 1990s on the back of product design and manufacturing - as well as logistics - for the likes of Dell, Fujitsu and Siemens.
'Compared to Nokia and Motorola we are still weak as a brand [having launched Mio in 2002], but if you put all our capabilities together we are quite unique - with software development capabilities and end-to-end embedded PDA systems and communications technology expertise in both design and manufacturing,' said Mio Technology general manager Samuel Wang.
'We may have a chance to win this market if we combine these areas of expertise effectively.'